Broomfield family gets wish granted for sick toddler

When Make-a-Wish didn't come through, the community did

By Jennifer Rios

Staff Writer

Posted:
12/30/2017 06:34:20 PM MST

Ethan Cerrato, 2, gets a kiss from his father Matthew Cerrato in early December. Ethan is a Broomfield boy who didn't qualify for Make-A-Wish. When two residents heard about this, they spread the word and raised nearly $8,000 to send Ethan's six-member family to Disney World. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

Thanks to hundreds of Facebook shares and thousands of dollars donated, a Broomfield family is taking a trip they didn't think possible.

Ethan Cerrato, a toddler with a short lifetime of medical battles and a love of Disney's "Cars," will get to see Radiator Springs with his parents and three siblings when he visits one of most magical places on earth.

"Lighting McQueen is Ethan's spirit animal," his mother Christine Cerrato said. "Each of the kids has something they can't wait to see."

While the other children, ages 14, 9, and 6, don't know they're going, Cerrato couldn't wait to tell Ethan, posting the video of the announcement on her Facebook page.

An excited Ethan thanked his "face-friends" and blew them a kiss.

Two of those friends, Broomfield residents Heidi Henkel and Guyleen Castriotta, were able to raise nearly $8,000 — enough to send the family of six to Walt Disney World for four days in mid-February.

"It restores my faith in humanity," Henkel said about the generosity shown to the family.

Henkel first met Cerrato on a private Facebook group of Broomfield moms where she learned about Ethan.

When Cerrato wrote online that the family was disappointed Ethan didn't qualify for Make-A-Wish, Henkel and Castriotta both commented on the post. Together, the two crunched numbers and figured the price to send the family.

Sarah Murphy, a spokeswoman with Colorado Make-A-Wish, said the case was dealt with internally and that Ethan did not qualify under the national organization's conditions.

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Three weeks after Henkel and Castriotta began spreading the word, they had raised their goal of nearly $7,800.

Ethan was born prematurely with a tumor weighing two-and-a-half pounds and ended up in the neonatal intensive care unit for three months. Multiple surgeries, including one to fix his urethra that was damaged by the tumor, taxed the family emotionally.

Ethan Cerrato, 2, is a Broomfield boy who didn't qualify for Make-A-Wish. When two residents heard about this, they spread the word and raised nearly $8,000 to send Ethan's six-member family to Disney World. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

"We had a heathy pregnancy," Cerrato said. "Up to that point, we had no idea anything was going on."

Ethan has also had a stroke, his mother said, which left him with minor cerebral palsy. His parents were told he would neverwalk because of a spinal cord injury due to the placement of the tumor, and that at some point he will need a kidney transplant.

Henkel and Castriotta have visited the Cerrato family in person and met Ethan.

"He is a bundle of joy," Henkel said, "and he is not shy."

She also said that Cerrato is a good advocate for the use of cannabidiol, or CBD oil, as a way to help relieve pain and seizures that Ethan experiences, and to help him regain feeling in one leg so he can begin to start to walk again.

"Regular seizure medicine would have hurt him worse because has a kidney disease," Henkel said. "They didn't know that until later, but if they had gone the seizure medicine route, he could have had kidney failure."

The visit gave them a glimpse into his mom's life — changing Ethan's colostomy bag, dealing with gastrointestinal bleeds and medical visits.

Since they began their fundraising campaign, more than 100 people have donated, including State Rep. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield. And, the Broomfield Police Department also reached out and included Ethan on its Santa Cops list.

Others gave words of support or referrals to medical professionals, including the American Cancer Society. Ethan had a non-cancerous tumor as a result of a medical disorder, Henkel said, which prompted the family to undergo genetic testing.

Ethan's mom said his siblings have been through a lotincluding seeing their brother getting taken away in an ambulance.

When they learned Ethan didn't quality for Make-A-Wish, the family was disappointed, but still supports the organization.

"They have a great mission," she said. "Ethan just didn't fit."

She and her husband Matt were shocked when Henkel and Castriotta reached out, saying they felt "overwhelmed and unworthy."

It has been heartening to see people share their family's story online, she said, especially because it is easy to feel alone at home taking care of a medically-complex baby.

"There are people who are facing much worse circumstances than we are right now," she said. "It's been amazing to see this community's outpouring of love, support and encouragement."

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